Killer sentenced to death

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, December 10, 2007

"This whole process has been a farce! I had nothing to do with killing these people!" the 35-year-old Peeler shouted in Superior Court as judicial marshals and corrections officers surrounded him.

But Judge Robert Devlin Jr. retorted he supports the jury's verdict that death is the appropriate punishment for Peeler's role in killing 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown and his mother, Karen Clarke, in 1999.

"One can only imagine the stark terror experienced by Karen Clarke and her young son, Leroy Brown, moments before their deaths," the judge said. "And these deaths were from the gun of an assassin sent to kill them by this defendant ...

"I order you to be taken to a place designated by the commissioner of corrections to be put to death by means of lethal injection."

In the back of the courtroom, Peeler's 17-year-old daughter, Russhell, burst into tears. "I love you, Dad! I love you! Someday I'm going to be a lawyer so I can get you free," she exclaimed before being ordered by marshals to leave the courtroom.

Peeler becomes the ninth person on the state's death row, but the first not convicted of actually committing a murder. He was convicted in 2000 of two counts of capital felony for ordering his younger brother, Adrian, to kill the boy and his mother.

The victims were found shot to death in their Earl Avenue home Jan. 8, 1999, a few days before Leroy was to testify against Russell Peeler in his trial for killing Clarke's fiance, Rudy Snead. Snead had previously been the Peeler brothers' partner in a drug ring.

A jury later found Adrian Peeler guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, and he is serving 20 years for the crime.

Russell Peeler appealed his capital murder conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court, which upheld it, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear it, which opened it for a new penalty phase. A previous jury was deadlocked on giving him the death sentence.

During the sentencing hearing Monday, Clarke's brother, Oswald Clarke, tearfully tried to express his family's satisfaction that justice had finally been served, but he was shouted down several times by Peeler.

"It's been eight very long years my family has gone through. He doesn't deserve to live. My only regret is that his brother isn't here to share his sentence," Clarke said, referring to Adrian Peeler.

Later, on the steps of the courthouse as nearly a dozen television cameramen crowded around, Clarke urged state residents to call their legislators to ensure Peeler does not wait too long before the ultimate penalty is carried out.

"Don't waste taxpayers' money on this guy. He's not worth it," he added.

When he was brought to the Main Street courthouse earlier Monday, Peeler, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, was escorted to a fifth-floor courtroom by a half-dozen correction officers dressed in camouflage and black flack vests.

When it was his turn to stand and address the judge, one of the correction officers grabbed Peeler by a chain around his waist, prompting a loud protest. Peeler told the judge he intends to file a motion claiming he had ineffective lawyers and contended his conviction was the product of an aggressive prosecution by State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict.

"He opened up his checkbook to prosecute me. I had nothing to do with killing these people ... This prosecutor, Mr. Benedict, is the most wickedest person ever," Peeler told Devlin.

"Mr. Peeler remains completely without conscience for what he did," Benedict responded later. "I only wish the jury could have been here to see him. The man is completely devoid of conscience."

Peeler's lawyers, Jeffrey Beck and Erskine McIntosh, said later it will be at least five years before the state Supreme Court considers an appeal in the case.

Peeler "is not accepting this because he maintains his innocence and is looking forward to his appeal," Beck said.